Zuma Zuma
by Cursa
Summary: AU Rather than the curse weakening enough for it to break, it has strengthened over time. That was what the Sohmas assumed until a girl at school bumped into the cat without causing him to change. Join the new cast as they seek to find the cause of this phenomenon, but instead set into motion a series of events that threaten to expose the entire family. Rated for character baggage
1. Paradigm Shift

**Author's Note:** This actually started as a role play with my very talented role play partner, Rin Kimiko. It went on for at least a year but has sadly petered out. I have been inspired by the new anime and am having withdrawals, but rather than starting a new rp with someone else, I decided to convert the one we were working on into this fan fiction. If anyone would like to beta for me, let me know.

Also, my knowledge of Japan is limited, having never been there, so I'm doing my best but will probably be found lacking in accuracy quite often. It is what it is and I have no desire to change everything just to cater to reality.

Additionally, I don't intend to explain the curse in this fic, so anyone who isn't familiar with the original series should read Wikipedia or something before continuing. I will also be taking some creative liberties with it (like, two), so just be aware.

**Disclaimer:** While the Fruits Basket universe is not mine, half the characters are while the other half belong to RK. With her blessing, I have altered her characters a bit to better suit the fan fiction style of writing and my own plans.

**Warnings:** I will repeat, this is an AU, with new, original characters. We pulled inspiration from the original story, so I'm sure it will be derivative in some ways, but it is my goal to make it refreshing, not exhausting. Some of the derivative overlap has a longer pay off before you will see how the stories differ, so feel free to comment or ask questions, but I can't guarantee I can answer them right away.

This will be plot-driven with quite a bit of drama, angst, abuse, and crazy shenanigans thrown in. There will be M-rated stuff happening in the background that will be banished to a deleted scenes story that I will eventually make on AO3 for this very purpose. I recommend following me there if you want updates on such things as I won't be mentioning them here due to explicit content bans.

This work is likely different from other Furuba fan fiction as I've never really read much of the fandom (I generally prefer HP myself), and though it started as an rp, I have done my best to stay true to the ff style of writing; please don't be scared off by my transparency of its origins. I've worked very hard to change it from the original rp into a cohesive and decent quality fan fic. Because of this 'translation' and my other projects, updates will likely be slow in coming.

* * *

**_Chapter 1: Paradigm Shift_**

Hajime Sohma sighed in relief when the last class of the day was finally dismissed. His desk clean, he turned in his seat.

"Hey."

It was enough to get the attention of sandy-haired girl sitting behind him. She paused to smile at him.

"Hi."

"Maro, right?" He held out the pencil. "Thank you for letting me borrow this. And the loose leaf. You're a life saver."

"Oh, of course! Any time!" She tucked it behind her ear. "Glad I could help."

The least he could do, he waited for her to gather her things and walked with her to the lockers, searching for something- anything else to say that would last them the journey. "You transferred a year ago? How are you liking it here?"

This is what happened when he tried to be polite- he asked inane questions. Dammit.

Maro smiled again, probably just to give herself something to do. No one was that happy to learn. "It's a good school. I'm glad most people are so nice, though I haven't had a chance to make too many friends with all the studying I have to do to keep up."

Hajime made a non-committal noise and searched for something else to say but Maro beat him to it.

"I like your bracelet."

He winced. "Thanks. It's a- _hem_\- family heirloom."

Reaching the lockers, they gratefully parted ways. It took him a few minutes to move the loose notes to the correct binder he had forgotten there and tuck it into his locker, but he was on his way out as soon as he could.

The autumn breeze felt more like the height of summer as he crossed the school grounds. Groups of students were loitering, keeping mostly to the shade, but the majority streaming out the front gates.

Two girls and a guy had a third girl cornered behind a tree just inside the entrance.

"You sure you aren't a guy?" one of the girls sneered.

"Yeah, your parents can afford a boob job," the other added. "If I were you, I'd ask for one for my birthday, just so no one gets confused."

Hajime did a double take and saw it was a couple of upper years who had cornered Maro. Before he could do more than take a step forward, the guy reached up and groped her.

"There seems to be _something_ there-" the pervert started to say but back of head met foot and he never finished his thought.

Conveniently, it was then a teacher exited the school. Swift but lenient punishment of phone calls home were handed out to the two high school boys for 'fighting on school grounds' and they were all released for the afternoon. 'All' being the two plus Maro as the bullying girls had scattered the second the teacher's voice had sounded across the grass.

"You didn't have to wait with me," Hajime said.

She shrugged. "You didn't have to stand up for me, but you did anyway."

"I take pencil borrowing seriously," he deadpanned.

She let out a surprised laugh.

At the front gates, they said their goodbyes, a bit more comfortable than they had at the lockers, walking in opposite directions to go home.

It wasn't a long walk, but it was an uncomfortable one in the high heat. With a sigh of relief, Hajime entered the tattoo parlor and blissful air conditioning. A lone tattoo artist whose client was seated in the only occupied chair greeted him before calling to the back room.

Nagisa Sohma stepped out a moment later. His hair was dyed blue, a few centimeters of black roots showing, and he had tattoos on every inch of his skin, artfully creeping up his neck where they petered out, leaving his face untouched. The two zodiac members exchanged nods but didn't say a word until they had reached the private living quarters upstairs.

"I understand you got into a fight at school," he started in a conversational voice, allowing Hajime time to slip his bag off his shoulder and let it drop on the living room floor next to the couch.

"Some upper students were bullying my classmate. I owed her a favor so I stepped in." Best to keep it simple, for so many reasons.

"Admirable, but never-the-less it is something I will have to report to Mizuki," Nagisa cautioned.

"I _know_," he grumbled.

"I have a date tonight."

Hajime frowned. "Kay?"

"Will you be okay for dinner or should I have Yuya come over to make you something?"

"You sure he doesn't have a date himself? Or isn't camping at the race track?"

"I've already called him. He can be here within ten minutes as soon as I give him the go-ahead."

Hajime was quick to shake his head. "I can figure something out. I don't need a baby sitter."

Nagisa grinned knowingly. "Alright. The shop closes in a few hours. Please be in bed at a decent time, and don't eat too much junk food."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

* * *

When no retaliation seemed forthcoming from the head of the Sohma household, Hajime soon forgot about the fight until later that week. The weather had finally cooled, making for a comfortable morning walk, but the second he stepped foot in the school, he could hear the whispers.

"What!"

"No way!"

"San-san?!"

They didn't let up the entire way to the classroom.

"Hey Hajime!"

"Hey Maro," he returned just outside the door. "What's going on?"

The girl's eyes gleamed in excitement. "Someone on the student council just learned that San-san is transferring to our school as of this morning! It's spread like wild fire!" All of this was said so fast it had practically tumbled out of her mouth all at once.

"Who?"

She stared, wide-eyed. "San-san? The Instagram star? Famous for her hairstyle tutorials? I think she's even got followers in Europe and America now. _And _she's going to be in our class!" The excitement was back.

Hajime shrugged. "I don't have a smart phone so I don't follow Instagram."

"But," she frowned, "aren't you related? You should have at least _heard_ of her."

A sense of foreboding swept over him a moment before she said, "I think she's registered as Hisano Sohma? Or is the last name just a coincidence?"

Oh, _hell_ no. Instead of responding, he whipped open the classroom door and froze.

Considering the time, it could be said nobody was inside, too busy maintaining the rumor mill elsewhere. The few who were, crowded around a girl about average height with long, silver hair pulled out of her face in a way that looked deceptively simple from the front. The girl's eyes snapped to Hajime the second the door opened, wandering uncaring across his irate face before tracing down to his throat with more purpose. With the high collar of the male school uniforms, it was unlikely she could see the tattoo hidden there, but her knowing gaze as their eyes met made him feel naked, just as intended.

Her facial expression didn't change, but the gleam in her eye told him she was gloating. "Hajime," she greeted. "It has been _forever_."

"Not long enough!" he snapped, stomping towards her. The sycophants scattered. "What the hell are you doing here? You're _homeschooled_."

"I transferred. Mizuki wanted to put me to better use so we struck a bargain."

Thankfully, more students were starting to enter the classroom and somehow hadn't noticed the celebrity, giving their conversation a few seconds of privacy.

"You're _spying_ on me?!"

Hisano's eyes narrowed. "The world doesn't revolve around you, stupid cat. Pop that inflated ego before it gets any bigger."

Before he could respond, the class was called to take their seats and Hisano was beckoned to the front to introduce herself.

"Hi everyone!" she started, her sweet and innocent mask back up, making everyone swoon and Hajime turn green. "My name is Hisano Sohma, but some of you may know me as San-san on Instagram." She smiled and bowed. "I've never been to a large school before, and appreciate your help navigating the hallways."

He rolled his eyes. She probably had the school memorized by now or something; it was just her way of manipulating everyone. She learned from the best, after all.

Thankfully, she was given a seat on the other side of the classroom and he didn't have to deal with her after that.

As the teacher started talking, a piece of paper was jabbed into his back. Turning around, Maro held it out, looking at him in earnest. Unfolding the origami figure, he read, _Why don't you like San Hisano? She seems really nice :)_

He took a moment to consider his response. He didn't want to lose Maro as a potential friend but she already looked up to the rat and might take it personally if they refused to get along. Having learned the hard way that people saw what they wanted to see, especially when it came to Hisano, he had to be careful not to make it sound like he was making generalizing accusations about the rat's personality. Who said he didn't learn anything from therapy?

_I'm sure she is to everyone else. We've just never gotten along, _he wrote. He tried to fold it back into the original shape but after several attempts, wound up crumpling it into a ball and placing it on the desk behind him for Maro to read.

* * *

"San-san is so _nice_," Maro gushed, forgetting who she was talking to for a moment.

"What'd she do now?" Hajime hoped this would die down in a day or two. He was sick of hearing about the damn rat and it was only lunch.

"I accidentally bumped into her, and _she_ apologized! To me!" She looked absolutely star struck.

He shook his head. "What makes her so great, anyway? There's got to be other people doing what she does out there."

That seemed to bring the girl back to reality, thank god.

Maro nodded. "There are, but she is the only one who does the tutorials on herself, with no help, and they still come out like that."

She didn't point, but they both looked at the large group of students crowded around a single circular table. Squeezed between two girls, Hisano was sitting with her back to them, elaborate hairdo of the day in full view as she took a selfie and paused to post it online.

Hajime shook his head at her. To Maro, he said "I still don't get it, but whatever. Why aren't you over there if she's so awesome?"

"You are mistaking admiration for desperation," she said, digging into her lunch. "I prefer my friendships to grow organically." After she swallowed her first bite, she asked, "What about you? You don't seem to have too many friends either."

"I like my friends free range," Hajime said and smiled when Maro snorted, turning her head to avoid spraying him with rice.

"Oh, your cousin is looking at us," she said.

"Hisano?" He immediately turned to glare but the rat was still engaged with the brown-nosers. Or her phone. It was hard to tell.

"Kazuki." Maro waved the teen in question over. "I've spoken to him several times, but he's so quiet. Worse than I am." Once it became clear he was going to join them, she sent Hajime a teasing look. "No deep set grudges against this relative?"

He shook his head. "Never spoken to him all that much. He's a distant cousin and, like you said. Extremely introverted. Nice enough, though." He took a slurp of his juice box. 'Very Berry' flavor or something.

"I swear," she said once Kazuki sat down, "now that I've seen a larger sample size, all the Sohma's are ridiculously good looking. If it's a family curse, I want in."

Kazuki turned bright red and Hajime shot juice out his nose. His eyes welled from the sting of sugar in his sinuses.

"What makes you say that?" he wheezed, reaching blindly for a napkin to clean himself up.

Maro handed him a handkerchief from her own lunch box. "Isn't that the trope? 'So beautiful it's a curse'? I'm just acknowledging your plight."

"How are you doing with Hisano here, Hajime?" Kazuki asked in his quiet voice, changing the subject.

"She hasn't tried to turn the school against me yet, but it's only lunch, so there's still time."

Kazuki's smile was indulgent. "She's not quite _that_ bad."

Maro looked between them. "What am I missing?"

"Less than you think," Kazuki assured her. "Hajime likes to complain."

"_You_ like to complain," he grumbled. Maro hid her smile by shoveling more rice in her mouth.

* * *

The Friday afternoon bell rang, releasing the students for the weekend. Hajime joined the throng at the door and dodged through the hallway to his locker. Despite his efforts, he managed to get stuck behind some slow freshman and wound up joining his slower classmates outside the main building.

"Hey," Kazuki greeted.

"Can't talk. Have an appointment with Midori right after school."

"Ah."

"Oh!" The girl in front of Hajime stopped suddenly and turned, revealing herself to be Maro.

In his haste to make his appointment, Hajime has been walking much too close and didn't have nearly enough time to stop or dodge. Panic set in, making time slow to a crawl. Their bodies collided and Maro was sent sprawling forward. Any moment now and he would change, revealing the curse to the entire student body. Instead, he took a single step back as the laws of physics returned to normal and life continued as usual. What-?

"Are you alright?!" Hisano was hurrying toward them, her face white as a sheet as she processed what just- or rather _hadn't_\- happened.

"Yeah, thanks," Maro said, taking the rat's offered hand to stand up. She blushed when she saw who had given her the lift. Forgetting her audience, she started stuttering. "San-san! It was my fault! Completely- one hundred percent!"

Hajime rolled his eyes.

"Don't blame yourself," Hisano assured her. "He's the moron who wasn't looking where he was going."

"No, no! I blame my height- people look right over me. Happens all the time!"

"Great," he interrupted when it looked like the rat was going to say something else disparaging about him. "It was everyone's fault. We have to go," he said and pushed Hisano in the direction of the street. Leaving the scene, he made sure to say, "I'll see you next week, Maro."

"Be more careful next time!" Hisano hissed, jerking away a moment later so they were walking together against their better judgement.

He stared. "That's your take-away: 'be careful'? Are we not going to discuss what just happened?"

A trio of star-struck freshman girls appeared in front of them, forcing them to stop walking lest they collide.

"San-san?" the ring leader said as the other two hid behind her. "Would you like to go shopping with us this afternoon?"

Hisano's gave them a regretful smile. "I wish I could but something has come up. Next time for sure, alright?"

The girls squealed in excitement and ran off.

"'What just happened?'" the rat repeated, returning to the conversation as if they hadn't been interrupted and resuming their pace. "That you were walking around with your head up your ass as usual? No. Everyone already knew that."

"And you call _me_ stupid- she didn't make me transform!" Hajime snapped, keeping his voice low.

She waved that away. "He's just a guy who is wearing a girl's uniform for whatever reason. No need to get excited over it. People can wear whatever they want."

"She bumped into you just yesterday and you didn't transform then, either!"

"Did she?" was her careless response.

"Yes!" He had always known the girl was self-absorbed, but this was ridiculous.

"What's his name?"

"_Her_ name is Maro."

"What Kanji does _she_ use?"

"Why the hell does that matter?!" He was ready to punch her. Maybe that would make her care enough to stay on topic.

"Maro is a boy's name, too," she said slowly, as though speaking to a child. They were nearing the street now and, save for his outburst, they were still talking in lower tones to prevent anyone from over hearing.

"She didn't make either of us change, regardless how she spells her name!"

She stopped in front of a parked car and gave him a long suffering stare while the driver moved to open the door for her.

"If you say so," she said and climbed in. The driver shut the door and hurried to climb back in the driver's seat.

Determined, he knocked on the window. After a short pause, she rolled it down and looked at him expectantly.

"Look," he said, doing his best to refrain from throwing insults given the situation. "I'm going to go find Kazuki and try to get to the bottom of this. Do you want to be updated or left out of it?"

Her gaze as she considered him was penetrating, as though she were actually seeing him for the first time.

"On the off-chance Kazuki finds something, keep me updated," she said at last. "Text any time, or call if there's an emergency." She gave him a sideways look. "You can handle that, right?"

With that, the car pulled away from the curb, leaving him shaking with anger on the sidewalk.

Damn rat!

* * *

Notes:

What do you think? Any speculation on what will happen in the future/ anything you'd like to see happen? RK and I came up with quite a few crazy ideas but if I like yours I might be able to weave it in as well if you have :D

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the characters introduced so far, both love and hate! Anyone you ship yet? :D Can you tell which ones are mine? Brownie points if you guess right! Side note: Hajime isn't specifically meant to be Kyo's son from the end of the original series or anything; this is an AU, taking place as though the original story never happened; we just liked the name, I think.


	2. Scientific Investigations

**Author's Note:** Thank you to my handful of followers! With all original cast, you mean that much more to me as this fic is likely even harder to come across by chance. I have a feeling people search for fics based on their favorite chars.

As much fun as it is to write into the unforgiving void, I appreciate comments, questions, and kudos. They feed my inspiration and make me feel less lonely :P

**Disclaimer:** While the Fruits Basket universe is not mine, half the characters are, while the other half belong to RK.

Chapter 2: Scientific Investigations

"Did you tell Hisano?" Hajime asked, falling into step with Kazuki.

The last day nice enough to eat outside for the year but instead of enjoying it, he was eager to get it over with. At least the rest of the afternoon promised to pass quickly and rat-free.

"Yes," was the quiet reply. "I thought she would wait for us in the hallway, but I guess with her InstaFans swarming…"

"'InstaFans'," Hajime chuckled. "I like that."

"Maybe she will get us a table?"

He tisked. "Ye of too much faith. If she even _remembers_, it will be to pull us aside, demand an update, and rejoin her groupies. I mean, _InstaFans_." He grinned.

Whether his blond cousin agreed or didn't like confrontation he couldn't tell. The response he received instead was, "Alright. Did you tell Maro?"

"Yep," he said. "She didn't seem to mind. Said she would get some studying done or something."

The majority of students were crowded around a group of the outdoor tables. Though there seemed to be a definite epicenter to the chaos.

"Do you think she forgot?"

"Yes," Hajime said before the question was finished. Unwilling to delay this any further, he stomped over to the mob which was not nearly as densely packed as it seemed from a distance. Though they had to be careful, they didn't have to push through like he was expecting to.

"Stop right there!" a girl with a small purple pin on her right breast cried, holding an arm out to halt their progress as they approached the core. "No boys allowed any closer!"

"Who the hell do you-"

"That's enough," Hisano said, standing to address the confrontation before it gained momentum above her head.

"Oh, wow! San-san!" The girl bowed in deference and stepped aside, still bowing.

Hajime pinched the bridge of his nose. They had all officially drunk the Kool Aid. And he had been looking forward to the juice box accompanying his lunch. Sad day.

"We are here to remind you of our appointment, or did you forget," he sneered.

Hisano frowned at Kazuki. "I just spoke to you a bit ago." She looked between them before giving a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. Give me a moment."

All too happy to escape, Hajime took the lead in wading out of the crowd, grumbling as they left behind the girl's cry of "San-san is such a wonderful person!" and burst through to freedom with a mental gasp of fresh air.

"I told her after the science projects were announced," Kazuki said as they took their seats. To Hajime's delight, they had found an empty table far from the insanity.

"I'm surprised you got a word in, with everyone hounding her as soon as the teacher stopped talking." Not that he had wanted to pay any attention, but it was hard to miss when nearly the entire class launched themselves out of their seats. "Speaking of, do you want to team up?"

Kazuki turned pink and ducked his head, mumbling something too low for him to catch.

"What?"

Even with Kazuki raising his voice, he had to lean in to hear the response.

"Hisano already asked me."

"What?!"

Kazuki was looking everywhere but him now. "Before I could answer, she was apologizing to the others who approached, saying we were already partnered up."

Hajime scoffed but Kazuki continued. "It seemed to me like she was trying to avoid the swarm."

The cat glanced in the mob's direction again which seemed to swell on one side before his eyes. A moment later, the edge parted, revealing Hisano and two girls, one of whom had stopped them from approaching earlier. They were given a wide berth by the others like one would for royalty- or for someone who carried the plague- and were eyeing the tables surrounding them.

"Doesn't seem like she's trying very hard."

Kazuki shrugged and was saved from answering when the girl from earlier pointed them out.

"Finally," Hajime muttered.

They watched Hisano pick her way toward them and immediately pulled out her lunch.

"What are you doing?" It wasn't a question as much as a demand for her to stop.

"This is a lunch meeting, isn't it?" She didn't bother looking at him, pretending to be too busy selecting her first bite just to piss him off.

Kazuki shrugged and glanced around as though trying to escape the explosive pair. Hajime clenched his fist under the table. Hell no did he agree to actually eat lunch with the rat. It was the most convenient time and place to have a full conversation while there was nothing else he could be doing. That's it. But the faster they got this over with…

"Whatever. Can we just start?" he said, jumping right into it. "At first we thought she might have something else going on; psychic powers or something. She can be scary intuitive. We even sicced the psychic club on her to get some readings but they didn't find anything."

"Excuse me," Kazuki said and slipped away.

Hajime paid him no mind as he continued. "While the club was creeping on her, we looked into any other lore that could be affecting our zodiac. Like, what if there's a Western zodiac family to our Eastern zodiac family? So far, nothing. But it's not like we plaster all of our family secrets online either."

Hisano raised an unimpressed brow. "So after nearly two weeks of investigation, your efforts so far have been 'let's Mob Psycho this thing and if that fails, hope Google is as helpful as it was in Twilight'," she summarized.

Hajime scowled. "Save for asking her outright or throwing ourselves at her, there's little we can do to get definitive proof without putting the curse at risk."

Kazuki flopped back into his seat and started taking out his lunch. "So I just threw myself at the girl and didn't transform. San-san, it's your turn. For science!"

Hajime knew he wasn't the only one staring. "Are you on drugs?"

Hisano was also struck dumb but unfortunately found her tongue again after a couple more seconds. "Your stupidity appears to be contagious," she told Hajime. "I recommend staying away from him from now on."

"How is this _my_ fault?!"

Kazuki raised his hand as though he were in class. "Also? I asked her? And she said she is a foster kid."

They stared at him again.

"Alright," Hajime said slowly. "So, it's possible she's a long-lost Sohma from some obscure branch of the family who got lost in the foster system."

From across the yard a distant, "You're coming with me!" could be heard.

Hisano pursed her lips. "That would explain why she could be failing to cause any of the zodiac members in attendance to transform," she bit out.

"Gotta go," Kazuki said and swung himself out of his chair again.

Hajime grinned. "It killed you to agree with me, didn't it?"

The rat stuck her nose in the air. "I don't know why you're gloating. Kazuki just did in two minutes what you failed to do in two weeks."

"He was on board with our investigation as much as I was!" he snapped.

"And look where sinking to your level got him versus when he struck out on his own," she said, packing away her chop sticks into her servant-made bento box.

"I don't see _you_ offering to help."

"It's not my investigation."

"Selfish as always," he sneered. "Even now that it could be a Sohma at risk, you still want nothing to do with it."

She studied him with the same look she gave him from the car several weeks ago. The rare occasion she was looking at him instead of through him.

"We still don't know that for sure," she said at last. "If she isn't, we can't risk revealing the curse. The best way to test it is to test her and the best way to do _that_ is at Nagisa's shop. If she changes, the damage will be immediately contained. Let me know when you want to make your move and I'll be there."

Not for the first time that day, Hajime was speechless. In his living memory, that was the first pleasant conversation he had ever had with the rat. Well, the tail end of one at least.

"How was your lunch meeting?"

He startled before he saw it was Maro.

"Sorry," she laughed. "I just saw everyone was gone and had to wonder if it ended in a battle to the death in which you came out victorious. Too bad; I liked Kazuki. He was acting weird today, though. Does he have an evil twin?"

Hajime's stomach did a flip. "Actually-"

Kazuki chose that moment to return to the table, looking harassed.

"What happened to you?" Maro said.

"Akira," he said, resigned.

"His twin sister," Hajime explained, kicking himself. "They actually look a lot alike and she plays it up by dressing in a guy's uniform and wearing her hair short. Even when you are expecting it, they're hard to tell apart. Sorry. We should have warned you."

"Probably," she agreed and turned back to the blond. "So what happened to you?"

Kazuki sighed. "I saw her talking to you during the meeting so I excused myself but was accosted by a faculty member. Apparently she skipped out on a detention which she was supposed to make up for over lunch today. They didn't believe I wasn't her until she came to prove otherwise."

"Huh. Sounds like a handful." Maro grinned at Hajime. "You knew about her; why didn't you figure it out?"

Kazuki frowned. "You spoke to her and thought it was me?" he pouted. "I know we look alike, but-"

"I was busy!"

Maro snorted.

"She was distracting me on purpose!"

"Seriously?" she said, giggling. "She was RIGHT THERE and you were so busy fighting, you couldn't tell." Tears of mirth were gathering in the corners of her eyes as she tried to hold back laughter.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Why didn't Hisano say something?" Kazuki contributed.

"I doubt she noticed," Hajime scoffed. "That's above her pay grade."

"Anyway," Maro breathed a couple times and wiped away her tears, "over lunch I heard someone started a San-san fan club." She grinned at them. "Given your love of all things San-san I thought you'd want to know."

"So that's what all that is about." Hajime eyed the mob of InstaFans with new eyes. They had dispersed somewhat since the beginning of the lunch hour, but they still congregated with a focus on a certain area which announced where Hisano had relocated to.

Maro hummed. "They won't say who the officers are, but the higher ups have purple pins and all the other members are given the rest of the rainbow to wear. I can't believe it got approved as an after-school club."

"I can't believe it took so long," he disagreed. "I bet Hisano's the president."

"I doubt that," Maro said, unfazed. Perhaps if his comments were becoming that predictable, he should back off a bit… Nah.

"Hajime doesn't have a partner for the science project," Kazuki said suddenly in his quiet voice.

"Really?" Maro said. "Perfect! Do you want to partner with me?"

"Sure," he said after a beat. "How about the four of us-" he had to force the words past his lips "-meet at my place after school and we can throw ideas around." His untimely death was a certainty now. At least hell would be nice and cool.

Looking up from his watch, Kazuki waved at Maro and Hajime as they approached the school gates.

"Hi, Kazuki!" Maro chirped. "Were you waiting for us?"

He shook his head. "Waiting for Hisano. Did you see her inside?"

Maro frowned. "No…" she trailed off, thinking.

"Maybe she's been held back by a teacher, then. Or her InstaFans are being extra aggressive this afternoon."

Hajime scowled and pushed past him to knock on the car they were standing next to with the palm of his hand. After a pause, the window rolled down revealing Hisano.

"Yes?"

"You seriously made Kazuki stand here waiting for you?!"

"I didn't see him."

"He was standing _right there_!"

Kazuki could almost hear the shrug even if he was at the wrong angle to see it. "I was on the phone."

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Are you going to keep shouting or are you going to get in?"

Hisano's bored response stopped Hajime in his tracks. Maro and Kazuki approached the vehicle in curiosity.

"What?" Hajime asked.

Hisano rolled her eyes. "It's ridiculous for the two of us to meet you there at this point. You all might as well climb in."

It took a minute or so, but eventually the four of them were settled in their seats without any incident. At some point during the careful navigation, the window rolled up on its own, likely controlled by the driver, who was looking at them from the rearview mirror.

"Hisano-" the man started.

"I'm aware, Atsushi. Just drive."

The car pulled away from the curb without any further comment. Kazuki hadn't ridden in it often as it was reserved for the residents of the inner estate, but it was nice to finally learn the driver's name.

When they arrived at the parlor, Kazuki moved to get out but seeing Hisano remain seated, aborted the motion and perched on the edge of the seat, fidgeting while they waited for the door to open for them.

"Thank you," he said once his feet were on the pavement.

The others shortly joined him, each voicing their thanks to the driver save for Hisano who instead said, "Nagisa said the shop isn't all that busy today."

The bell tinkled and a tall man with mid-length golden hair swept into view. "Hisano, lovely to see you," he gushed, sweeping her un-offered hand into a kiss. "Kazuki! It's been too long, and looking handsome as ever!" Despite his efforts to avoid it, the man managed to catch his hand and do the same.

Hajime, on the other hand, looked like Christmas had come early and was more than happy to stand back with Maro and watch.

"Yuya," Hisano said, her voice flat before she found some cadence. "What are you doing here?"

The man in question opened his mouth to answer but caught sight of Maro.

"My dear, we have not been formally introduced!" With a flourish, he bowed and gave a royal kiss to her knuckles as well. "Please don't hesitate to ask me for anything!" he said with a wink.

"She's sixteen, you pervert!" Hisano hissed, kicking him in the shin.

Yuya yelped and hopped back, rubbing the point of impact.

"Holy shit, I'm so glad I'm here for this!" Hajime breathed.

Kazuki frowned. "You don't care for Yuya either."

"No, but I love watching him piss off Hisano." he kept his voice at a whisper, unwilling to disrupt the entertainment continuing to unfold.

"Yuya, luv," a sing-song voice called from the back room. "You're not flirting with the locals again, are you?"

"I'm just being friendly!" he called back before whinging to the rat, "Since when is it uncouth to say hello?" Straightening up again, he beamed at Maro.

"If you wish to get away from these savages," he informed her, speaking through his teeth and somehow managing to maintain his wide smile as he did, "we can go for coffee and get to know each other a bit better."

"She hasn't aged in the last five seconds!"

"Hisano, you wound me! Honestly, after all these years I would have thought-"

The two continued to bicker and Maro looked uncertainly at Kazuki. "Are they related?"

"You mean like siblings? No," he admitted. "I'm probably a closer blood relation to him that she is."

"Huh," she said, stumped.

"It's the hair," he assured her. "Everyone thinks that at first because their silver and gold complement each other so well."

"-give a whole new meaning to the term 'tree hugger'," Hisano was saying.

"There's that infamous tongue lashing Yuya was telling me about," said the voice from earlier, this time much closer and accompanied by Nagisa.

The man was a traditional Japanese businessman, complete with suit and tie and looking out-of-place in a tattoo parlor.

"I don't know you," Hisano said by way of greeting.

He chuckled and bowed. "Of course not. My name is Tomo, Yuya's lover."

"Of course you are." Her voice lost all cadence again.

"Now, now," Yuya cut in, wagging his finger. "Tomo is here as my guest, and that's no way to speak to a paying customer."

"You're getting a tattoo?" Hajime scoffed, having decided the fun was over for now.

He tittered. "Of course not! Tomo was consulting with our dear Nagisa in the back. Did you two pick a design?"

Nagisa nodded. "I will need a couple days to make the requested adjustments and get the details right." He nodded at Tomo. "I will call you when it is completed and we can set up the first appointment once you have approved the design."

The love birds kissed good bye and as the businessman started to leave Kazuki missed exactly what happened. Whether the man misstepped or one of his fellow teens managed to trip him on the sly, he stumbled into Maro who looked half his size and everyone held their breath.

"Pardon me, Mrs. Maro. Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you."

And with that short exchange, he was gone.

"Oh, hell," Yuya said the moment the door closed behind him.

"Is something wrong?" Maro was looking between them all, confused by the tense silence.

Kazuki nudged Hajime.

"Nope," he said, taking the hint. "Let's go upstairs and get a start on the project."

"We'll be up in a second," Kazuki told them, betting his wool Hisano wouldn't join the cat otherwise.

When they had disappeared, Hisano said, "We can rule out her being a Zodiac member, then."

"Too bad," Yuya agreed with a grin. "I was looking forward to getting to know her bet-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," she snapped.

The man put a hand to his heart. "Hisano, truly! I mean it in the most innocent way possible, I assure you."

"She doesn't know that. We're trying to _avoid_ scaring her away."

Nagisa looked thoughtful. "There was a rumor that one of the Zodiac members broke free of the curse in the last generation."

"Do you think it happened again?" Kazuki had heard the same but never believed it possible.

"If it did, the only way we have a hope of proving it is getting a DNA sample," Hisano said. "We've gone as far as we can with IRL testing and we can't present Mizuki with two muggles running into each other if we are digging into how the curse can be broken."

"Muggles?" Yuya said with an indulgent smile.

She rolled her eyes. "I can't be the only one who reads."

Kazuki raised a finger. "I do."

"Excellent, you appear to have your next assignment" Nagisa said, clapping his hands together. "Now get out. I'm losing customers."

Yuya chuckled. "Nagisa, darling, since events didn't go as we were hoping, would you be able to-"

"I am not memory-wiping your boyfriend," the blue-haired man stated. "Break up with him like a normal person."

"Not even if I-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

Notes:

A huge thank you to Rin Kimiko for her help in giving me inspiration for this chapter!

I've strayed quite a bit from our original role play in some ways, but in others, I've remained true. This means, though, that I can fit in way more shenanigans than we managed to originally as shown by this chapter, so if any of my lovely readers have any ideas I would love to hear them! No guarantees I can fit them in, but I will do my best :D


	3. New Light

**Author's Note:** The majority of this rough draft has been written for a while now, which is why I was able to get it out so soon after my last one. Next chapter is going to be more serious, I think, followed by a hijinx and shenanigans chapter. This is still a bit fluid; I'm trying out a new way to outline to see how I like it. Wish me luck!

**Disclaimer:** While the Fruits Basket universe is not mine, half the characters are, while the other half belong to RK.

Chapter 3: New Light

The school grounds had the occasional sports team running around outside for practice, but the school itself was eerie quiet. The student council was tucked away in a meeting somewhere. He was pretty sure he had found the room they were having it in because he could hear, "You can't tell her to dye it back! It's her brand!" as he passed.

Hajime's footsteps echoed through the hallway before he slipped inside one with relief.

"Hisano, do you hate sleep?" he grumbled by way of greeting.

"No, just you," she assured him with a sweet smile. She and Kazuki were already seated in their desks by the windows, and of course she had woken up in time to put her hair in its crazy style of the day before getting to school.

Crossing the room, he pulled a chair from one of their neighbors to join them.

"Have you and Maro picked a topic yet?" Kazuki said.

"Yes, but none of the ones we came up with."

"Why not?" Hisano demanded.

He bristled. "I dunno. Maybe because it's impractical for high schoolers to do an analysis on DNA samples for a simple school project."

"Did you explain we have a way to analyze the samples?"

"Yes, and she said we wouldn't be expected to actually analyze or compare them because we're in high school."

"She's not wrong," Kazuki added.

Hisano scowled and leaned back in her chair. "You could still base your project on DNA and convince her to provide the sample as part of your project."

"She wanted to do something else."

"What about the other ideas?"

"I was not about to recommend blood splatter analysis and suggest we slice our fingers to test it. Red-colored water would work just as well," he snapped. "Face it. All of your ideas were stupid."

"At least I _have_ ideas," she retorted.

"What did you two pick, Hajime?" Kazuki said in his quiet voice that cut through the building argument.

"A psychology experiment. Apparently her foster parents are loaded so we're going to superglue a 10,000 yen note to the ground and observe how long people try to get it."

"Let me guess," she sneered, "your idea?"

"Hers, actually."

Hisano's expression softened even before Kazuki cut in.

"We still have to figure out how to get a sample without coming across as a family of stalkers."

Hajime hesitated for a second. "What about telling her the truth?"

Hisano scoffed.

"Not the _full_ truth, obviously. But she full out told Akira about her foster family when she asked. What if we just told her why we wanted the DNA sample. She might just give it to us."

"Something to consider," Kazuki said.

The classroom door opened and a couple other students trickled in.

"You guys all beat me," Maro said, wasting no time in joining them.

"Dumb luck," Hajime said.

She laughed. "I'm sure."

"Hajime was telling us about your science project," Kazuki said. "You're doing a social experiment?"

"Oh, yeah. We'll probably watch until we get twenty or so people, and we were thinking repeating it ten or so times in different socio-economic areas. We already have a hypothesis written up. What are you guys doing?"

"We were going to do a presentation on diamonds."

"I was thinking on that last night," Hisano added, eyes lighting up. "We could use rock candy to reflect the different cooling rates in the magma."

Kazuki smiled. "I like that. We could add food coloring to show contaminants and how they change the color of the diamond."

She nodded. "Also, I read that there's a specific plant that grows above the ancient magma wells where diamonds are found. We could show this with a tiered cake and share it to increase class engagement."

Maro hummed. "I'm not sure how the rock candy would hold up in the batter."

The classroom was starting to fill with more students now.

"If nothing else," Hisano said, "we can plant them after the cake cools and cover the holes with frosting."

"It might take some experimenting," Kazuki agreed.

"This sounds expensive," Hajime tried, giving up his seat to its rightful owner.

Hisano waved it away. "I'm not worried."

He shook his head.

"I would offer to help but Akira and I went in on a game together in the beginning of the month and it wiped us out," Kazuki said.

"I can cover us both, don't worry," she assured him.

"Do you think you will be able to fit in the unethical practice behind blood diamonds?" Maro said, inching toward her seat as the teacher took her place at the front of the class.

"You are going to be left with a ton of cake," Hajime said, determined to find a flaw in their plan. "What are you going to do, eat it?"

Hisano's eyes glittered but she didn't respond.

"Take your seats, please," the homeroom teacher called.

"Oh, wow! San-san!" one of Hisano's desk neighbors said as Hajime and Maro took their seats. "I saw your Instagram post. What were you doing at school so early?"

"I hate sleep."

Hajime turned to Maro. "Post?"

"Yeah," Maro whispered, pulling out her phone. "Lemme find it." She swiped a few times, pulling up the muted video for him to watch.

A tired looking Hisano gave an exaggerated yawn in what was obviously the classroom lit with a slow-rising sun. She gazed around the room as she talked about her location then put the phone down and started the tutorial. He didn't care about that part, or any of it, really, so he went to hand it back but stopped when she looked up, ruining the tutorial.

Jumping ahead in the video a bit, Kazuki was pulled into the shot briefly before she hurried to get back to where she left off and continue more slowly so viewers could follow along.

Hajime handed the phone back, contemplative. She hadn't woken at the ass-crack of dawn like he had thought.

Hisano stood at the front of the class, and for once, he didn't sneer.

"This will be brief," she promised the homeroom teacher before addressing the class with a small bow. "Morning everyone! Kazuki and I have chosen our research topic for our science project. I want it to be a surprise-" she paused to pose in a cutesie anime way and Hajime was surprised to find his nausea response was not as violent as it usually was, "-but I wanted to announce we will be having an on-going bake sale in the following weeks and all proceeds will be donated to a non-profit organization related to our project."

Hisano took her seat and her spot at the front of the class was replaced by the teacher.

Maro poked his back with a piece of origami paper before lobbing over his shoulder where it landed in his lap.

_You looked annoyed when Hisano said she could pay for their project. You're still okay with me covering ours, right?_ she wrote.

He ran a hand through his hair before responding. _All of the Sohma kids get an allowance from the head of the family. Hisano's is a lot more than everyone else's. It has nothing to do with you; we're cool. _

In response, Maro traced a smilie face on his back, but during the exchange, he had completely missed the teacher's announcement.

"I know this is a lot to work on at the same time," the class president, Jun, was saying. She had taken the lead and the teacher had left to prepare for her first class. "And they probably should have better planned introducing our projects and the school festival around the same time, but we're high schoolers. We can do this! We just need to pick what we would like to do."

"A café!" one person called out, not waiting for an invitation.

"A bake sale!"

"You stole that from San-san!"

"It's a good idea!"

Jun called attention back to the front, waving an envelope. "Last year, everyone did a café, so this year they have a handful of themes randomly assigned to all of the homerooms. Ours is-" she opened the envelope and read it, "-oh, its food. We can do a café if you'd like."

And because cafés were cliché for a reason, that's what they went with. He couldn't complain, he supposed, having not outwardly objected much to any of the ideas being thrown around.

What the hell was wrong with him?

"Let's explore that."

Hajime was sitting in Midori's office at the Sohma Estate, where he had rushed to right after school and the resulting sweat was still drying from his shirt. The room had three different kinds of chair set ups to chose from, fidget items within reach from any seat, children's toys on lower shelves so toddlers and children could play, and in one corner, a doll house he had only ever played with once as a child, at the therapist's insistence.

She continued, "Now that you know Hisano sleeps in like everyone else, what are your thoughts?"

He picked at some lint on the arm of the chair and found one of her hairs, black save for the last inch which was a bright red.

Midori waited.

"I guess… I don't like the idea there could be any similarities between us."

She seemed to accept that as an answer, much to his relief. "And you said your reaction to her when she spoke to the class today changed. What thoughts did you have when she went up there?"

He shifted in his seat, frowning.

After almost a thirty seconds of silence, Midori spoke again. "What would you have said yesterday?"

"She was announcing the bake sale for attention," he said without hesitation.

"And today?"

He frowned again.

"Did you see any other similarities between you?"

"She's really creative," he said, not answering the question but rather an unspoken one. "It's just a research project with a ten minute presentation, but she has turned it into a practical demonstration that also feeds the class, and she and Kazuki just made it up on the spot."

"You're jealous."

Was he? But the answer had always been yes, so it wasn't even a question. Just one more thing to add to the list. Dammit.

"I'm starting to see why some people like her," he admitted, surprising himself. "And I wondered…" He took a breath. "I wondered if she genuinely wanted to help."

"What do you think the answer is?"

"I don't know."

"It sounds like this has really shaken your view of her and it's not sitting well with you," she said and glanced at the clock. "We are out of time, but I recommend keeping an open mind for now. You may find yourself pleasantly surprised."

A minute later saw him out in the hallway, sliding Midori's office door shut behind him. Steady footsteps rounded the corner revealing Nagisa who continued to march toward him with purpose.

"Come with me," Nagisa instructed by way of greeting as he passed, sweeping Hajime up in his wake. It made his breath catch.

They had both been summoned.

And he had been having a good day.

Not entirely true. He had been having a day, and only in retrospect was it a good day seeing as Mizuki hadn't been a part of it.

The walk through the main estate was both too long and too short for Hajime's liking. They reached Mizuki's office sooner than he would have liked, but each step wound him tighter, pushing him into survival mode.

Nagisa's knock was answered almost immediately by the limo driver, Atsushi, who stepped aside to let them in.

The head of the Sohma family was already waiting for them behind his desk. Nearly forty, he was the oldest of the current generation of cursed Sohmas and had a bit of gray in his black hair to show his age.

"You're late," was all he said and the driver slipped out the door. Coward.

Mizuki ignored the departure, instead zeroing in on Hajime as if it were his fault. "Explain."

The cat's eyes narrowed but he held his tongue, instead saying, "I had an appointment with Midori." He hoped an apology had worked its way into his tone when he wasn't looking. His survival strategy relied on hyperawareness that did not extend to his brain/mouth filter.

"You were sent a calendar invite this morning," Mizuki said. "You should have checked."

"Hajime doesn't have a phone," Nagisa was quick to point out before he could give a scathing response, "and I have no way of getting ahold of him once school lets out." He undermined the brave act by looking at the floor as he finished speaking.

Hajime frowned.

Mizuki looked the man up and down for a moment. When he didn't speak, they leaned back as though expecting a bomb to go off.

The tension was cut by a light knock on the door. Still wearing her school uniform, Hisano slipped in with a smirk- or was it a smile?- at Mizuki, eyes glazing over them before dropping in mock deference to the elder.

"Glad you could join us," he said.

Hajime bit his cheek to suppress a scowl.

The zodiac god then turned to them, allowing Hisano to do whatever she liked to get comfortable. Apparently, that included her leaning casually against the wall next to the door as she watched the proceedings. She looked ready to slip out as easily as the driver had while he and Nagisa were stuck here as long as Mizuki bid them to stay. Better things to do or strategic placement?

As much as Hajime wanted to continue watching her, he knew Mizuki would not tolerate it and turned his attention back to the man. A good move, as it turned out.

A beat later, Mizuki announced without preamble, "Hisano has requested she live with the two of you for the remainder of school." Hajime nearly tweaked his neck he turned so fast to study the rat whose skin looked unblemished. "Her things are being moved to your guest room as we speak."

Hisano continued to stare, fixated on Mizuki as though he were the most important person in the room. Even the dog zodiac wasn't as loyal as far as Hajime was concerned, so why would she ask to leave her master?

While he sat stewing, Nagisa was more productive. "For years my advertisements have been aimed towards men. The majority of my patrons and all of my employees are male as you required when I opened the shop." He chanced a glance at the rat before continuing, choosing his words carefully. "How would you like to move forward given this change?"

"Do you have so little faith in Hisano's discretion?" Mizuki raised an eyebrow before dismissing the concern altogether. "You will be on hand should anything happen, regardless."

Hajime could see the frown the blue haired man was holding back. He would have bet anything that hadn't been the answer he had received when he first asked to start his parlor. As usual, the god was accommodating his favorite zodiac and leaving the rest of them to rot.

Nagisa tried again. "Hisano and Hajime have always butt heads. Do you think it's wise to-" he stopped, face going pale as though he realized what he was saying.

Hisano shifted by the door, though when Hajime looked, her expression remained neutral. He couldn't picture her being on the receiving end of Mizuki's wrath… but perhaps she didn't like witnessing it? _Or maybe you're not as perfect as you like to pretend._

"I'll make this simple for you, little dragon," Mizuki said in a low tone. "Either you will maintain control of your household or you will all be moving back to the estate to resume your previous duties."

Despite his seated position, his glare was sufficient in making Hajime's mouth go dry. He didn't dare look away to see Nagisa's face, but he was sure his cousin was just as reluctant to look away as he was.

When no one responded, Mizuki continued in a more casual voice, still speaking to Nagisa. "Should the curse be exposed at any point, you are to contain the situation and inform me immediately."

"Of course, Mizuki," he said, bowing his head.

Satisfied, the man turned to Hisano and his expression softened, much to Hajime's disgust. "I still expect you to come visit me when you're at the estate."

"I look forward to it," she replied with a nod.

Hajime wanted to make a face but his name was called in a tone that didn't bode well for him and he froze, waiting as the man studied him. His gaze fixed on the collar of his uniform and the tattoo hidden beneath it.

"Behave," Mizuki said after a long pause then dismissed the trio with a wave.

The limo ride home was quiet. Nagisa attempted conversation but Hisano's responses lacked substance and Hajime didn't feel like talking, finding it hard to reconcile the girl he saw in school with the girl in the meeting just now, at her 'baseline' as Midori would say. The only good thing to come of all of this was, as the first to move in, he had the larger of the two guest rooms.

As soon as the limo stopped in front of the shop, Hajime let himself out and hurried upstairs. He wanted his door open when she passed so she could see his space before discovering the closet she was moving into. It was still early enough; he could spend some time in the park before dark then work on a bit of homework before bed. His plans changed when he reached his room.

To say the movers had taken it upon themselves to do a little redecorating was an understatement.

"Hisano!" he raged. Whatever perceived good will had been building between them flew out the hole he punched through the sheetrock.

"The hell?" Nagisa said, balking on the top stair as he pulled his hand out of the wall.

"What's happened?" Hisano's voice came from behind him, unable to see around the dragon's taller form. A moment later, he stepped further into the apartment and she was taking her first look around.

Hajime flew at her. "You did this!" he snarled as her back slammed against the wall, uncaring if it made another hole. "You fucking narcissist!"

Nagisa wrenched him away from the bitch and she peeled herself off the wall.

"What did I do this time?" she asked innocently.

Hajime lunged again but was held back by Nagisa.

"Please calm down, Hajime," he said, straining against the struggling teen. "We can settle this like adults, unless we just want to pack our bags right now. I'm sure Mizuki would be thrilled to see us back so soon."

With that reminder, he stopped going for the kill and instead stood, shaking with unspent adrenaline.

"Thank you." Hajime could still feel a hand on his shoulder, ready to hold him back again if need be. "Now, what happened?"

Too furious to put it into words, he continued to send a poisonous glare at the rat who took-

"-My room!"

There was a moment's pause as the man peered in. "Oh, dear."

Finally the other man was starting to understand.

"Hisano, would you excuse us?"

The usurper nodded once and retreated into HIS room, sliding the door shut behind her.

"What'd you do that for?" Hajime demanded once it was shut, though he knew she could hear everything as the place was not intended to be sound proof. "We're switching back."

Nagisa took him by the arm and gently directed him to the kitchen which was on the opposite side of the apartment from the bedrooms in question. Hajime let him, though he didn't see the point. He was getting his room back, damned if she overheard how it happened.

"Hajime, please think this through," he said calmly once they were far enough away. "Whether she orchestrated this or it was done on Mizuki's order-"

"Of course it was her!" he roared.

"-does not matter," the dragon continued as if he hadn't interrupted. "If Mizuki gets word that you kicked her out of her room-"

"My room!" he hissed and jerked his arm out of the other's grip. Nagisa let him.

"If he finds out, he may take it as evidence that I don't have things under control here. At this point, we can only pray she doesn't tell him of your reaction just now. I don't think she will," he hurried to say, seeing the anger building again.

"Wouldn't be the first time."

"She asked to live with us for a reason. I doubt she would want to move back on the first night. But we can't afford to make a big deal of this."

Hajime seethed. The blue haired bastard was right, but it didn't mean he had to enjoy it. It would take hours to reorganize all of his belongings.

Hisano stepped out of her room as he was passing and his anger flared up again. "You need to watch yourself," he warned, looking her dead in the eye. If she had any sense, she would know she had crossed a line with her earlier stunt.

She wrinkled her nose. "You need a shower."

He made a fist, tempted to punch the expression off of her face but instead spun round.

"I'm going out," he said, making for the front door.

"Remember to be back half an hour after sun down," Nagisa reminded him, "or I'll be forced to report it."

"Tell me something I don't know," Hajime spat and slammed the front door behind him. Jeeze- run away _one_ time…

Hajime's good mood was shattered the moment he opened his eyes to the cramped third bedroom. His stuff had been thrown in haphazardly the night before and he had only bothered clearing off his bed before falling in. As it stood, he would likely spend the majority of the weekend organizing the mess.

Passing his original room, he couldn't be sure if Hisano was up yet so he kicked the door anyway for good measure. As he finished his morning routine in the bathroom, he heard a knock.

"How long does it take to get ready? I need to brush my hair," Hisano called through the door, sounding annoyed.

"Wait- you _mean_ to look like that?" It didn't have the impact he had wanted, given her Instagram following.

"Not all of us can pass off the unwashed hobo look as well as you can," she said, making him bristle, and she banged again on the door. "Now get out!"

Since she asked so nicely… he reached for the floss for the first time in way too long.

"Damn rat," he cursed when he finally exited the bathroom with sore gums.

"Stupid cat," she said, shouldering her way inside in a huff.

Intent on beating her- if not the bell- to class now that he had made both of them late, he grabbed his lunch out of Nagisa's hands and hurried out the door. He hadn't made it to the front door of the shop before he started scowling. Through the front window, he could see the family limo at the curb with Atsushi waiting outside to hold the door. No wonder the girl hadn't been in more of a hurry after his delay tactic. In retrospect, it was almost laughable that he thought living off the estate would take away the precious rat's ride privileges. He should have known better.

The rest of the day didn't improve. Entering homeroom late earned him a warning and he opened his lunch to find he had grabbed Hisano's instead of his own so he was stuck eating a stupid Hello Kitty-themed bento box rather than humiliate himself further by asking her to switch back.

Their eyes locked across the room and she gave him an unimpressed look.

"Enjoying your lunch?" she seemed to ask.

Maintaining eye contact, he deliberately took a too-large bite and she looked away in disgust. Sometimes one had to enjoy the little things, because- common! Hello Kitty. Ugh.

Notes:

Poor Hajime; their rivalry is as strong as ever, lmao!

I'm dying to know- what did you think of Mizuki? Like I said, I don't read a lot of Furuba fan fic, AU or otherwise; is it weird to meet the family head so early in the fic? Was it too soon?

Stay safe and healthy :)


End file.
